This invention relates to a wire end terminal having a fuse element portion formed integrally therewith, and also relates to a method of producing this wire end terminal.
FIG. 5 shows one conventional wire end terminal of this kind (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). As shown in FIG. 5, this wire end terminal 50 includes a wire press-clamping portion 51 for being press-fastened to a conductor (not shown) of a wire W, a terminal body portion 52 for being fixed by a bolt, and a fuse element portion 53 which is provided between the terminal body portion 52 and the wire press-clamping portion 51, and melts when an electric current of above a predetermined level flows therethrough.
When an excess current flows through the wire W, the fuse element portion 53 of the wire end terminal 50 melts, thereby protecting the wire and others from the excess current.
Patent Literature 1: JP-A-11-260238 (FIG. 1)
In the above related structure, however, the wire W and the wire end terminal 50 are separate from each other, and therefore in the case of producing a wire harness with the wire end terminals, the number of its component parts is large, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the cost increases. And besides, the wire end terminal 50 is connected to the wire W by press-fastening the wire press-clamping portion 51 to the conductor of the wire W, and therefore a resistance loss develops at the press-fastened portion. As a result, there has been encountered a problem that a voltage drop loss is large, so that the reliability of the connection is lowered.